Unitarian Church (Burlington, Vermont) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Unitarian Universalist Meeting House (Burlington, Vermont)
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U.S. Historic district
Contributing property |
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Unitarian Universalist Meeting House at the top of Church Street
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 Location in Vermont
Location in the United States
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| Location | 152 Pearl Street, Burlington, Vermont |
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| Built | 1816 |
| Architect | Peter Banner (with possible assistance from Charles Bulfinch) |
| Architectural style | Federal |
| Part of | Head of Church Street Historic District (ID74000207) |
| Added to NRHP | July 15, 1974 |
The Unitarian Universalist Meeting House in Burlington, Vermont, is a very old church. It was built in 1816 and used to be called The Brick Meeting House. You can find it on Pearl Street, right next to the Church Street Marketplace. It is the oldest church building in Burlington that was built by early European settlers.
This building is part of a special area called the Head of Church Street Historic District. Other important buildings in this area include the Masonic Temple (built in 1897) and the Richardson Building. This whole historic area was added to a list of important places, the National Register of Historic Places, on July 15, 1974.
The Unitarian Universalist Meeting House is the home of the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Burlington, Vermont. This group is part of the larger Unitarian Universalist Association.
History of the Church
The Unitarian Society started as part of a bigger church group called the Congregational Society. This group was formed in Burlington, Vermont, on February 23, 1805. But in 1810, the Congregational Society split into two different groups.
One group was called the Trinitarian or Calvinistic Society. They believed in the idea of the doctrine of the Trinity. The other group was the Unitarian Society, which had different beliefs and did not believe in the Trinity. The Rev. Daniel Haskel became the leader of the Trinitarian Society on April 10, 1810. The Rev. Samuel Clark became the leader of the Unitarian Society soon after, on April 19 of that same year.
Building the Meeting House
The construction of the Unitarian Church began around May 1, 1816, when its cornerstone was laid. The rest of the building took about seven months to finish. The total cost was around $23,000. This price included a clock, a bell, and an organ. The organ was brought all the way from Boston by sleigh.
In December 1816, the church sold the seats on the lower floor for more than $21,000. The Unitarian Society chose E.T. Englesby to oversee the completion of the building. A newspaper in Burlington, the Northern Sentinel, described the church on December 27, 1816. It said the church was "91 feet in length, 60 in breadth, with a steeple of 170 feet in height." The church was officially opened on January 9, 1817.
The Church Bell
In 1910, a history researcher from Boston wrote a letter that led to an interesting discovery. The city treasurer of Burlington, L. C. Grant, found out that the church's original bell was made by Paul Revere. Paul Revere cast the bell on October 13, 1816.
The bell weighed about 1,286 pounds (583 kg). Its clapper, the part that strikes the bell, weighed about 31 pounds (14 kg). The bell was sold to the Town of Burlington for $592.65. This was based on a price of $0.45 per pound. The bell was later recast in 1828 for $166.88. It was replaced again sometime in the 1900s after it developed a crack.
Steeple Repairs
In August 1954, lightning struck the church steeple. No one knew it at the time, but this caused a lot of damage over the next sixteen months. Eventually, it was discovered that the base of the steeple had shifted and tilted eastward by about two feet.
By 1956, the church decided to take down the damaged steeple. This process took about six weeks to complete. Special workers called Steeplejacks from Framingham, Massachusetts, carefully saved the windows, the bell, and pieces of metal from the steeple. A new spire was built and officially dedicated in September 1958. The pastor at that time, Rev. Robert S. Miller, said that the project cost $55,000. He also mentioned that people from many different faiths helped raise the money.
Gallery
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Oblique view of the Unitarian Church, 2013
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View of the church from the Church Street Marketplace, 2004
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Vintage postcard of the church, circa 1930–1945
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Historic wayfinding signage at the Unitarian Church
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